


Handle With Care

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: How the Light Gets In [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Family, Finn gets a new job, Fluff, Future Fic, Humor, M/M, Reassurance from loved ones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22412899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: Finn considered himself to be pretty good at handling dramatic situations. (Fluffy future fic)
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Series: How the Light Gets In [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575481
Comments: 10
Kudos: 187





	Handle With Care

**Author's Note:**

> This is wildly self-indulgent. I'm so sorry.

Finn considered himself to be pretty good at handling dramatic situations.

Yes, his first big rescue ended in a crash, but that's what let him find Rey and BB-8 and finish Poe's mission. Poe got back on his own, Rey met up with the Resistance and realized she was a Jedi, and after a couple of false starts Finn figured out how to be just as heroic as the rest of them. He'd spent most of his life being trained to fight, and it made all the difference when you had something worth fighting for.

Eventually he realized he was both in love _and_ Force sensitive, the second of which was much more dramatic than the first. Being in love with Poe was amazing, as natural as breathing, but watching Rey made it clear that the Force could be just as pushy as Phasma when it wanted to be. Finn listened when he thought it might be useful, made _it_ listen when he needed it to – the Force didn't seem to care about Poe much, for example, but soon realized that Finn wasn't _any_ use when Poe was in danger – and in general worked out his own arrangement.

Adopting kids was dramatic in its own way, all of them former stormtrooper cadets who'd made their own paths to freedom. Shara made her escape from a planetside base to find him, then a few years later they all came across Rey Jr. and Ponn at an abandoned base (the boys had chosen to name themselves). The two had declared themselves twins, even though one was a human and the other a bothan, and hidden when the other cadets had been cleared out of the base. They'd made the family a little more chaotic, but if anyone could handle the craziness it was the Damerons.

Then all _three_ kids had turned out to be Force sensitive – which probably explained why the Force had been so helpful in finding them – and the twins decided they both wanted to be Jedi. They were both currently being taught at home by their Aunt Rey, since the three adults had collectively decided that going off was part of what made the old Jedi so crazy, and so far they both seemed as well-adjusted and homicidal whisper-free as they had when they started.

Then everyone decided to try and re-form the New Republic, which _seemed_ dramatic but really involved Finn and Poe having to go to a lot of meetings. But they were both _good_ at meetings, the family was given a nice place to stay while the meetings were happening, and a shouting match or two tended to be the most exciting thing that happened in a day. (There was _one_ assassination attempt – on Rey, actually, which meant that it was short lived – and some debate with the Bothan senator about Ponn being raised in a non-Bothan home. But after the Damerons were officially declared a Bothan clan, even that settled down.)

Big or small, Finn had always been good at handling dramatic situations.

At least, until now.

000

Carefully, Finn lowered his head into his hands. He'd kept it together in front of all the holocameras, but here it was safe to fall apart. "I think I'm going to throw up."

Next to him, Poe rubbed soothing circles along his back. "RJ, sweetheart, go get your dad a bucket, okay? Just in case."

Twelve year-old Rey Jr. jumped up from his spot on the floor, then hesitated. "I could probably just catch it with the Force if–"

" _No_." The collective answer came from everyone else in the room, including both his siblings and Rey pacing back and forth from in front of the–

"Rey, can you _please_ get away from the windows?" Finn asked, still not looking up. "We don't _think_ there are any more snipers after you, but let's not hand them a signed invitation."

"I would be able to sense if there were snipers," Rey countered, voice brimming with agitation and something else. "Besides, after the stunt the Senate just pulled, you're as much a target for–"

She cut herself off, thankfully, but his family was smart enough to fill in the gaps. "People are going to try and kill Dad now?" Ponn asked, radiating worry. "Who? Can we find them?"

"Dad and Pop are used to people trying to kill them," Shara explained in her best big sister voice, but Finn could hear the worry underneath the reassurance. She was sitting on his other side, petting his hair, which meant he was possibly the only one who had noticed her hesitate. "They were both generals in the war, remember?"

"And they have us to protect them now." Rey Jr. seemed full of his usual confidence as he brought the bucket back in. When Poe's hand stilled, however, Finn knew they could both hear the waver in the bravado. "Even if an entire army tries to come for Dad, we'll stop them."

"An army isn't coming for your father," Poe said reassuringly, but Finn could hear the wryness as he turned his attention to Rey. "And thank you, Rey, for making this feel like an even _more_ traumatic situation than it was when we walked in here."

She sighed. "Sorry." He heard her walk over, sitting down cross-legged on the floor between the twins. "But this is horrible, and we all know it. Why didn't you refuse?"

"I _couldn't_." Finn made himself sit up, looking into the worried faces of his family. Poe tightened an arm around him, Shara leaned her head against his shoulder, and both of the boys scooted closer. "You heard them. I'm literally the _only_ person everyone could agree on becoming the First Senator. If I say no, they'll elect someone else as Chancellor."

"And according to the current rules, the Chancellor is essentially powerless," Poe continued somberly. "Which is how the First Order was able to amass so much power."

"Then Dad _should_ be the one in charge." Ponn leaned forward. "He and Pop will keep the universe safe."

"Dad can be First Senator, and Pop can be his bodyguard or Chief of Staffs or something," Rey Jr. added. "Maybe both, so he doesn't get bored."

"I would do all of that and more," Poe reassured them. "Whatever your dad needed."

Ponn's brow furrowed. "Then why does Dad still look like he's going to throw up?"

Shara squeezed his hand. "He didn't like the way they surprised him." She'd always been good at explaining things to the boys. "The same way you two don't like to get surprise training sessions from Aunt Rey."

"But they're always stupid." Rey Jr. looked struck by the thought. "Is being First Senator stupid?"

Finn sighed. "No, but it's... huge. And really, really important." And terrifying. Utterly, unspeakably terrifying. He was absolutely not good enough to pull this off. "They could have _warned_ me."

"If they had, you would have tried to argue them out of it." Rey's voice was flat. "You don't think you're good enough for the job."

The indignant gasps from his children would have been touching if he hadn't known how wildly prejudiced they all were. "They didn't want to give Leia the position because she was Vader's daughter. I'm a former _stormtrooper_."

"A prisoner of war, just like our kids," Poe said quietly. "One who was not only essential in taking out Palpatine and the rest of the First Order, but one who has _tirelessly_ worked to put the galaxy back together in the years since. You're friends with pretty much everybody, inspire people even when you don't mean to, and are doing everything you can to demystify the Force for people." He smiled. "I wanted to punch their lights out for springing it on you like that, but even I have to agree they made the right choice."

"What about you?" Finn tried to argue. "You're just as inspiring as I am."

Rey snorted, earning more indignant gasps from the kids, and even Poe made an amused sound. "I'm glad you think so, but even if that's true I'm so, _so_ much worse at meetings."

"Even I have to admit that's true." Shara smiled at Poe to take away the sting. "Pop can lead armies, but you're the one who’s good at making people _stop_ fighting."

"You feel good in the Force," Ponn added. "Like a warm hug."

Finn spread his hands out helplessly. "That doesn't mean I can lead the _New Republic_."

Poe gave him a gentle squeeze. "Yes, it does."

Even Rey smiled. "I hate to admit it, but he's right. You know a lot of impressive people, but you're the star we all orbit around. The New Republic would be lucky to have you."

Finn swallowed, staring into the faces of the most important people in his life and finding nothing but certainty. He swallowed. "You know I can't do it without all of you, right?" he asked, voice thick.

Rey Jr. leaned forward enough to pat his knee. "We know. We'll protect you from the bad guys."

"Or do whatever else you need." Ponn patted his other knee. "Don't worry, Dad. We're all here for you."

"I'm especially going to need you." Finn turned to Poe with the closest thing to a stern look he could manage at the moment. "I am _absolutely_ going to find out the official job title for 'guy who helps the First Senator make decisions and keeps him from going crazy,' and that job is going to be _yours_."

"I thought that job title was 'husband.'" When that got him poked in the side, his expression softened. "I meant what I said earlier, General. Anything you need, I'm right there."

"That goes for all of us," Shara added. "And when we're together, we can do anything."

Finn's throat closed up. "I'm going to talk about you all in my official swearing-in speech and whatever interviews I have to do. And rest assured, I will cry each and every time."

They all beamed at him. For the first time, Finn thought that maybe he could handle this, too.

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


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